Pleural malignant mesothelioma with metastatic deposition in the tongue
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Catharine Pearce; Hugh Bakere; Matthew Steward; Manish Powari
- Source
- BMJ Case Rep
- Subject
- Thorax
Male
Mesothelioma
medicine.medical_specialty
Pleural Neoplasms
Physical examination
Case Report
Metastasis
Lesion
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Tongue
medicine
Humans
Pelvis
Aged
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Mesothelioma, Malignant
030206 dentistry
General Medicine
medicine.disease
medicine.anatomical_structure
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
Quality of Life
Abdomen
Radiology
medicine.symptom
business
- Language
- English
A 70-year-old man with epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma was referred to the maxillofacial surgery department with a painful lesion on the lateral border of his tongue which interfered with swallowing. Physical examination demonstrated a 3 cm firm, non-ulcerated mass on the left lateral tongue, histologically shown to be metastatic epithelioid mesothelioma. MRI of the neck and CT scan of the thorax, abdomen and pelvis scans also demonstrated progressive local and metastatic disease. The patient was not felt to be fit for further treatment. More than 90% of oral cavity cancers are squamous cell carcinoma. All reported cases of metastasis of malignant mesothelioma to the tongue have been of the epithelioid subtype with 10 cases reported in the literature to date. Diagnosis is important as tongue lesions can significantly impact on quality of life and synchronous tongue primaries should be ruled out. Tongue lesions may herald metastases to other extrapleural locations.